Whose Cousin?
by MelGayPet
Summary: Tiny ficlet. Three Llanview kids discussing family.


**A/N:** Yes, another one-shot. I do have a sequel to _Family_ in the works - with a plot and everything! - but these short little scenes just keep popping up. Enjoy!

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They hadn't planned it, but the three of them - Sierra Rose Fish, Liam McBain, and Ryder Lovett - all found themselves in the library at Llanview High School at the same time. It was Sierra's study hall and Ryder and Liam's French class - the one class they had together - had been dismissed to the library when their teacher suddenly became ill. They all had their phones on silent, so Liam missed Roxy's call, but he noticed the blinking message on the screen a few minutes later.

"Iguazu?" Ryder asked, after Liam let them listen to the voicemail. "Isn't that a waterfall?"

"She means Ignatz," Liam said, practiced at translating Roxy's malaprops. "It's a comics award. My cousin Shane won one. I guess it's a big deal."

Sierra made a face across the table at him. "You mean my cousin Shane," she corrected. She didn't know Shane very well, since he was a lot older and hadn't lived in Lanview since she was a baby, but still, it was the principle of the thing. Liam had a thousand cousins, including Ryder, why did he have to claim hers?

Ryder had a similar objection. "Shane Morasco? He's not our cousin. That was a lie. His crazy grandmother scammed Grandpa into thinking that Rex guy was his kid, but he's not." He gestured at Liam's phone. "The other one, I mean. The one with the stupid name."

Liam shook his head at both of them. "My mom says Uncle Rex was her brother before she even knew she was a Buchanan. So Shane is my cousin."

Sierra and Ryder exchanged a look. Liam's jaw was set in a way they both recognized. Liam was the quiet one, the easy-going one; and whenever he got in trouble, people usually assumed that Sierra or Ryder dragged him into it. A lot of the time that was true, but there were times he could be stubborn, and at those times there was no arguing with him

"Fine," Ryder said. "But he's not mine." He looked at Sierra. "How's he _your_ cousin?"

"Oh." For some reason, Sierra hadn't been expecting that question. She drummed her fingers on the table. "Shane's mom Gigi is my aunt."

Ryder frowned, looking confused. "So, what, she's your dad's sister? The real one, or - ow!" He jumped in his seat and glared at Liam, who had just kicked him in the shin.

"Both my dads are real," Sierra snapped, half-rising out of her chair, fists clenched. Ryder's eyes widened.

Liam hissed, _"See!"_ and kicked her this time. He jerked his head in the direction of the librarian's desk, where Ms. Benchley, who was about a hundred years old, was staring at them suspiciously. Sierra took a deep breath and dropped back into her seat. Punching stupid Ryder in his stupid mouth wasn't worth getting suspended.

"My dad never treats Bree like she's not his kid," Ryder said several long, tense minutes, and it sounded like an apology. "I mean, I forget most of the time that she ever had another dad."

Sierra nodded stiffly, feeling some of her reflexive outrage slip away.

"Right," Liam jumped in. "Like Shane is both our cousin but not Ryder's and Roxy is pretty much our grandma even though she's not related to anyone except that Schuyler guy who's married to mine and Ryder's cousin Starr-"

"How many cousins do you have?" Sierra asked, rolling her eyes.

Ryder and Liam looked at each other and shrugged. "A lot," they answered together.

They were quiet for a few more minutes after that, but it was a friendlier silence. "Gigi's sister was my mother," Sierra said abruptly. "That's how she's my aunt."

Ryder blinked at her. "Oh." Then, cautiously, he said, "I thought you...well, like with your brother, your parents used, like, a donor, right?"

She shook her head. "No. I mean, yes, that's how Jasper was born, but not me."

"So, she, Gigi's sister -"

"Stacy."

"-and your dad - I mean, Fish, they..."

"Yeah."

"Wow."

Liam had hunched his shoulders through this conversation. Sierra was pretty sure she knew why. He wasn't dead, but Liam didn't like to talk about his father any more than she did her mother. She suddenly grinned wickedly. "Stacy was, like, best friends with your guys' Grandma Kim."

They both started snickering. "Dude," Ryder said, punching Liam in the arm. "I dare you to call her that in front of your mom."

All three of them laughed now. "Family is weird," Ryder concluded.

Really, that said it all.


End file.
